"Find the connection between where you are and where I am. Open up the space between us and do something."
from Victory Condition by Chris Thorpe
Do you have ideas that are too big for the room? How can we tell our stories, talk about our experiences and invite audiences to do more than sit and listen? What are the new forms we can find to make ourselves as useful as possible in our work?
Supported by the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific, leading UK writer and performer Chris Thorpe will travel to Tāmaki Makaurau in September to ignite theatre artists with the art of the possible. Working alongside Jason Te Kare, Playmarket's Kaihāpai Tuhinga Māori, this five-day intensive will centre around theatre performance and writing as a means of encouraging a sense of agency in audiences, particularly around global issues that feel 'too big' to think about or are incompatible with the experience and pressures of daily life.
As a participant, you will:
- Unpack some principles of live performance to better define the individual lens, angle and form that characterises your own artistic work
- Look at techniques for incorporating meaningful exchange with your audience - not just as a generalised concept but as the specific individuals present in the room at the moment of performance
- Begin to shape a new work from an idea that matters to you
- Consider how to structure your work
- Riff with each other on how to frame conversations about the specific communities and places you share or do not share connection with
This workshop is presented with the support of the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific.
KEY INFORMATION
WHEN // Monday 21 September to Friday 25 September, 10am to 5pm
WHERE // Auckland Theatre Company Studios, Balmoral, Tāmaki Makaurau
PUTEA // The workshop is free to attend for participants who are selected from an expression of interest process
A big shoutout to Auckland Theatre Company for their generous support in hosting us.
Places for this workshop are strictly limited. The expression of interest process closes Friday 31 July.
Submit your expression of interest HERE
Chris Thorpe is a writer and performer from Manchester. He's written for the Royal Court, Royal Exchange Manchester, the Unicorn Theatre and many others. He regularly collaborates with celebrated artists such as Simon Stephens, Hadestown's Rachel Chavkin, Rachel Bagshaw, Hannah Jane Walker and Third Angels. His major works include There Has Possibly Been an Incident, The Oh F*ck Moment, I Wish I Was Lonely, Confirmation, Status and The Shape of the Pain. His performance work tours internationally and is also regularly produced for stage and radio throughout Europe and in the US.
Chris creates expansively, grappling with the big issues of our time. Recent work has seen him write about nuclear disarmament, treaty negotiations, the psychology of the climate crisis, the Portuguese gig economy and radical empathy.
Learn more about Chris Thorpe HERE